If you live in Michigan, be forewarned that the Recital will be playing this Saturday at Stormy Records in Dearborn with Red Shirt Brigade and Arcaid. Doors at 7:30, three bucks gets you in. You should probably go.

“i’m cancelling this auction, as well-known spammers (the folks from buddyhead.com) are attempting to purchase my domain. i have no desire to support their unethical and illegal activies. sorry, folks!”

Reprodepotfabrics.com is so great. The spawning grounds for a myriad of dumb ideas and ill-advised crafts projects. What they do is make reproductions of old patterned fabrics. So many dopey possibilities.

I worked as a drug counselor and held group sessions on Saturday mornings. Unfortunately, my schedule collided with pee wee’s playhouse time so to utilize therapy time in the best possible manner — I made all of my addicted patients watch Pee Wee’s playhouse!!!! it quickly became all the rage amongst my patients and the Saturday sessions became the most important part of their treatment and before long – even the ones that didn’t have to come in on Sat AM, would wander in with coffee in one hand, looking for a place to sit. This was one of the most effective group session strategies i had ever come up with.

Many of my regulars are clean to this day and reminisce about the good old days when we quit taking life sooooo serious all the time. I even had them shouting at the ‘secret word’ at appropriate times and everyone had their favorite character- Mine of course was always ‘P.W.’ himself.

It wasn’t long, before we all added and “-O” to the end of each persons name and this has continued on to this day!!! It wasnt just on Saturdays either, it went on through the whole week, the months and years. There was a sad feeling among all of us when we heard of his arrest. Beleive me, my patients thought it was a major bum deal — We really had a lot of healing to do and did this by discussing how “the man” (yeah, the LAW) was always out to get ya!!!

Our love and support never faltered!!! If we only would have had internet access back in those days — It was a difficult time for many of them and when it looked like someone might slide because they were so down, We’d uplift the spirit by saying special kind words like “i don’t make monkeys, i just train ‘em” and ‘I’m a loner dottie, a rebel…”

When the occasional would be backslider talked openly about a desire to use again, we’d say “Its not for sale FRANCES!!!” then we’d collectively decide what the secret word was of the day and to make it easy – we’d make it a word that we knew the person would use eventually, like “methadone” or ‘syringe’ or something special that everyone liked and voila’ — just like that they’d get all better. During a regular counseling session, if a patient said something like “yeah, but…”

I’d quickly respond with “Let’s talk about your big but…Simone”

There was something magic happening, then, something very magic indeed.